Dow: Up 83 points to 10,392.
NASDAQ: Up 16 points to 2242.
S&P 500: Up 7.23 to 1106.74.
Commodities: Up all the way. Oil closed up $1.76 at $79.09 a barrel. Gold is up $3.30 to $1123.40 an ounce and silver is up $0.04 to $16.14 an ounce.
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Filed under: Aftermarket, Coupe, Performance, Misc. Auto Shows
We’ve just gotten word from Hennessey Performance that the Venom GT won’t be making the trip to Switzerland to debut at the Geneva Motor Show. Instead, the Lotus Elise-based supercar will make its official entrance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July and make its first U.S. appearance in Monterey this August.
Testing of the 2,400-pound twin-turbocharged V8 coupe is underway, and according to our source, the reason for the delay was a lack of exhibition space in Switzerland. You can get the full details in our previous posts and expect more information to be forthcoming in the next few weeks.
Spy Shot: Hennessey Venom GT to debut at Goodwood, U.S. debut in Monterey originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines resigned Thursday from the board of Scholastic Inc., a position that paid him compensation worth more than $150,000 last year.
Cortines’ dual role with the company and the district received scrutiny in the wake of an article on that subject last week in The Times. In defending his position with Scholastic in a recent interview, Cortines said he avoided any issue at the district involving the leading educational publishing company. And his senior staff said this recusal included any decision involving academic intervention programs.
Scholastic provides the district’s primary reading intervention program for high schools. And, as of this year, Scholastic’s program also became a key component for middle schools. The company has earned more than $5.2 million from the L.A. Unified School District since Cortines joined the school system as its No. 2 administrator in April 2008. He became superintendent in December 2008.
Cortines is paid $250,000 a year by L.A. Unified.
The superintendent’s brief letter to Scholastic’s president and chief executive officer, Richard Robinson, read as follows:
“Per my telephone conversation with you and attorney Andy Hedden on Thursday, February 18, 2010, this correspondence serves as a formal notice of resignation from the corporate board at Scholastic Corporation. A hard copy of this correspondence has been mailed to you.”
Copies of the letter were sent to members of the Board of Education and school district general counsel David Holmquist.
Board members had been placing no pressure on Cortines to resign from Scholastic last week, but it’s unclear whether their views changed in the wake of increased public awareness of the matter.
— Howard Blume
Photo: L.A. Times file
More breaking news in L.A. Now:
L.A. judge praises Chris Brown for progress in meeting terms of sentence in Rihanna assault
Los Angeles city prosecutor targets medical marijuana dispensaries
3 Tesla Motors employees killed in plane crash tentatively identified
UC Berkeley receives $16-million donation to expand diversity-related programs
Landslide near Interstate 10 in Pomona still moving
Temecula criticized for removing nude portrait from gallery
Landslide closes 10 Freeway interchange in Pomona
L.A. police seek public’s help in capturing Christmas Day rapist
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came” was a 1970 movie with Ernest Borgnine and Tony Curtis (both of whom are still with us). What if the Treasury gave an auction and nobody bid, aside from Primary Dealers who must bid? That is one of the fears that drove prices down and rates up yesterday, especially with the news that China fell behind Japan to become the second-biggest holder of US Treasuries. That is not a good thing, and is an indication that the Chinese have been acting on recent complaints about US policy by unloading US debt. China was a net seller of Treasuries by $34 billion, bringing its total holdings down to $755 billion from $790 billion in November. Money talks.
Treasury prices went south yesterday after this China news came out, the positive data on the housing market, and the apparent progress on Grecian debt (Treasuries don’t need to be the “safe haven”.) . More important than numbers reflecting last month’s economic climate, however, were the Fed minutes. “A few suggested that the pace of asset sales, and potentially of purchases, could be adjusted over time in response to developments in the economy and the evolution of the economic outlook”. Does this mean that the Federal Open Market Committee will adjust asset sales and purchases rather than the overnight Fed Funds rate? Perhaps!
Traders saw a higher-than-recently-normal amount of selling from originators Wednesday, which made mortgage rates move a little more than Treasury rates toward the downside. The minutes from the late-January meeting revealed that members debated how and when to shrink the central bank’s $2.26 trillion balance sheet, with some policy makers pushing to start selling assets in the “near future.” Officials unanimously agreed that Fed assets and banks’ excess cash will need to shrink “substantially over time” and return the central bank’s holdings to just Treasuries, but obviously there is concern about upsetting the stability of the markets.
Today we have another large amount of economic news with which to grapple. We have already had the Producer Price Index and Jobless Claims; still ahead are the Philly Fed and Leading Economic Indicators. The PPI showed that inflation picked up more than expected: +1.4%, with the core rate +.3%. Year-over-year the PPI was +4.6% and the core rate was +1.0%, roughly as expected. Jobless Claims rose 31k to 473,000. On this news stocks moved down, and rates improved somewhat: the yield on the 10-yr is chopping around 3.71% and mortgage prices are a tad better.
Generally speaking locks desks around the nation were a little slower last week. Yesterday the MBAA reported that applications from last week were down about 2%, with purchases down 4% and refi’s down about 1%. Refi’s are still amounting to about 69% of the mortgage activity (what would your volumes look like if refi’s went below 50%?), and ARM loans are still less than 5%. Yesterday morning, after the Starts & Permits number, we learned that in January Industrial Production was +.9% and Capacity Utilization went from 71.9% to 72.6%, both relatively strong numbers.
GMAC Bank Correspondents now are using GMAC’s “Occupancy Certification” form. For a purchase transaction the borrower(s) certifies as to their intent to occupy the subject property as a primary residence or second home, and for a refinance transaction, the borrower(s) certifies that the subject property is not currently listed for sale or under contract to be listed for sale. “The completion of this form is recommended for all primary residences and second homes, however may be required, at the discretion of the GMAC Bank Correspondent Funding underwriter, to be completed and signed by the borrower(s) prior to closing.”
Bank of America Home Loan correspondent reminded clients that the last day it will purchase loans under the old Fannie DU 7.1 guidelines (FICO less than 620, expanded approval, etc.) is February 26th. Also remember that the last day BofA will purchase temporary buydowns for IO and non-owner loans (which it ceased offering effective February 12) will be March 29th. (Qualification for temporary buydowns means using the note rate for fixed rate loans and for ARM’s borrowers must qualify using the greater of the Note rate or fully indexed rate). BofA also tweaked its Servicing Released Premiums (SRP’s) and agency pricing slightly. For example, starting two days ago the price adjustment for FHA/VA (including Rural Housing and Sec 184) with credit scores from 620 to 639 increased to 37.5 basis points, and FHA Streamline refinances below a 640 credit score have been removed entirely. Lastly, Bank of America Home Loan reminded clients that the FHA no longer limits the origination fee to one percent, but that lender fees should be fair and reasonable, and will monitor fees to ensure borrowers are not overcharged, and that BofA is following HUD’s “appraiser independence” directives (only non-commissioned employees or third parties may select the appraiser, lenders may use an AMC, loan production staff may not have any substantive communication – somewhat subjective – with the appraiser, etc.).
CitiMortgage did originators a favor by publishing a fine list of tips for processing FHA loans. If everyone followed these, the world would be a better place. It is a long list, so I put in about half today, with the next half tomorrow.
For documentation:
The 92900A must be fully executed, signed by all parties and completed per HUD requirements.
The initial 92900A, page 2, section V must be signed and dated.
Page 1 of the initial 92900A must be fully executed and dated by the lender.
Underwriter must complete Page 3 of the Final 92900A at the bottom of the page regarding having a “financial interest” in the transaction.
Source of Funds
Verify and document the source of funds used for the down payment and borrower closing costs.
Funds must come from sources acceptable to HUD. For example, gift funds require a gift letter and evidence of receipt, transfer, and donors, ability, deposit slips, wire transfers and/or certified checks evidencing withdrawal and deposit for borrower and donor. For bank Statements / Retirement Funds / Stocks / Bonds / Mutual Funds / Money Markets, provide all pages to asset documentation, explain and document any large deposits, liquidation documentation is required for all 401k, IRA, etc. withdrawals.
Borrower Credit
Analyze borrower credit and document explanations regarding past delinquencies, outstanding collection accounts, and credit inquiries.
All credit inquiries within the past 90 days must be addressed and verified.
Is borrower a heavy credit user, compare balances to limits.
Include all debts in the qualifying ratios.
Ensure credit information is consistent with other loan file documentation.
Compare SSN to W2, tax transcripts, etc.
(Continued tomorrow.)
Fannie announced that its DU Version 8.0 April Update Release Notes are now available. “Release Notes are available for the Desktop Originator/Desktop Underwriter Version 8.0 April Update, which will be implemented the weekend of April 17, 2010.” The version coming out provide additional information for DU Refi Plus loans, some DU potential red flag messages for social security number and occupancy verification requirements will be changed to Verification messages that must be fulfilled before delivering the loan, and the new version will “be able to underwrite this community lending product, and will issue a message on all HFA Affordable Advantage loan casefiles reminding lenders that they must have approval to deliver these loans to Fannie Mae.”
Real words from a real agent: “I have been originating residential loans for 26 years, and originating a loan has never been so time consuming and labor intensive. I work three times as hard for one-third the income, literally. The mortgage companies and banks now expect the originator to originate the loan (I like this part the best and spend the least amount of my day doing it) set up the loan (open escrow, order credit and appraisal, input loan (completely- error free) into the loan origination software, process the loan (complete the disclosures, collect signatures on disclosures, collect income and asset documentation from the borrower, underwrite the file manually and electronically (DU or LP), and close the loan (follow up on additional conditions created by an “underwriter”). Of course the “underwriter” takes out his/her checklist and finds fault with something we have or haven’t done (real or imagined) to justify their existence by conditioning for additional pieces of paper that do nothing for anyone (they blame it on the investor). There is really no such thing as an underwriter anymore. If DU or LP say no, it’s a no. I find it almost laughable that the set up department doesn’t set up (they police the disclosures) and processing department doesn’t process (they submit the completed package to the underwriter) and the underwriters don’t underwrite. There is no fun left in the business for originators. It’s sad but true. The parts of the business I truly love and excel at – figuring out how to market/originate loans and helping people realize the “American Dream”- are the parts I spend the least amount of my day doing.”
The meaning of “potentially” and “realistically”:
A young boy went up to his father and asked him, “Dad, what is the difference between ‘potentially’ and ‘realistically’?”
The father thought for a moment, then answered, “Go ask your mother if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars. Then ask your sister if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars, and then ask your brother if he’d sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars. Come back and tell me what you learn from that.”
So the boy went to his mother and asked, “Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?”
The mother replied, “Of course, I would! We could really use that money to fix up the house and send you kids to a great university!”
The boy then went to his sister and asked, “Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?”
The girl replied, “Oh, good heavens! I LOVE Brad Pitt and I would sleep with him in a heartbeat. Are you nuts?”
The boy then went to his brother and asked, “Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?”
“Of course,” the brother replied. “Do you know how much a million bucks would buy?”
The boy pondered the answers for a few days and then went back to his dad.
His father asked him, “Did you find out the difference between ‘potentially’ and ‘realistically’?”
The boy replied, “Yes, ‘Potentially’, you and I are sitting on three million dollars, but ‘realistically’, we’re living with two ‘tramps’ and a future congressman.”
Rob
(Check out http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/default.aspx. For archived commentaries, check www.robchrisman.com ).
Hainesville Mayor Linda Soto said she didn’t shed a single tear when a bulldozer and other demolition equipment began dismantling the old village hall Thursday.
Instead, Soto said, she expected former village Trustee Gary Walkington to start celebrating when the first brick of the 70-year-old building came down.
“Gary is a lifelong resident and he wanted this more than anyone else, so I really expected him to do a few cartwheels,” she said. “Honestly, aside from being the best tornado bunker in town, it was of little use for anything else. It has no historical value at all.”
After demolition of the building is completed next week, the parcel at routes 120 and 134 will be put up for sale for commercial use, Soto said. It’s unclear right now how much money the village could expect to collect from the sale of the land.
“It was very cost prohibitive to renovate the building,” she said. “So, the bottom line was it is best to take it down, get rid of it, then turn the land into prime commercial property for future development.”
Historians said the redbrick rectangle-shaped structure was originally built as a two-room school for the now-defunct Hainesville School District 43 in 1940. It replaced a wood frame structure that was moved to Round Lake and ultimately became a VFW hall before being burned to the ground in a fire department training exercise, officials said.
The brick building was used after District 43 consolidated with Round Lake schools in 1945, though it is unclear when the school was closed by District 116 and Hainesville officially took it over for use as the village hall.
Soto said the building had asbestos in the floor and ceiling, and the main room sported 1970s-style paneling and cork tile on the walls.
“The worst was the building had only one window in it, and it was in the back of the building,” she said. “I wasn’t kidding when I said it is a bunker.”
A management company was brought in this week to professionally and correctly remove any asbestos from the site before demolition, she added.
“The building really is in horrific condition and is nothing more than an eyesore,” Soto said. “The basement floods, there’s asbestos, and the building has no character or original design at all.”
Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Article Tags: Gary Thompson
A key component of the scientific argument for anthropogenic global warming (AGW) has been disproven. The results are hiding in plain sight in peer-reviewed journals.
Politicians and scientists still cling to the same hypothesis: Increased emission of CO2 into the atmosphere (by humans) is causing the Earth to warm at such a rate that it threatens our survival. The reality of our global temperatures, the failure of these catastrophic predictions to materialize, and the IPCC scandals all continue to cast serious doubt on that hypothesis.
The only rebuttal given by AGW proponents is that the scandals of the IPCC don’t negate the science (i.e., unscrupulous behavior by a few don’t negate the rock-solid science), so it seems that the only way to disprove the AGW hypothesis is to address problems with the science. Climate science is very complex, and AGW proponents dismiss the scientific arguments unless the data are contained in journal papers that are “peer-reviewed.”
Three peer-reviewed journal contain data contradicting the AGW hypothesis. But before the journal papers are reviewed, here is a little background on the science.
Source: americanthinker.com
Article Tags: Peter Ferrara
Establishment figures intone about the substantial “body of science” supporting the notion of man-caused global warming. But based on recent events, they need to check the body’s pulse. The body is dead, and rapidly wasting away before our very eyes.
Over the past 3 months, a circus of scandals has played around the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its periodic Assessment Reports on global warming. The latest report issued in 2007 proclaimed a consensus regarding a 90% probability that mankind’s activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, were causing global warming that would lead to catastrophic results if drastic steps were not taken to reverse it.
The lasting scientific upshot of that circus of scandals is that the historical global surface temperature record on which the contention of global warming has been based has been thoroughly discredited as manipulated and mangled beyond recovery.
Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
Three official global surface temperature data sets exist. These include British data (Hadley-CRU) maintained by the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia, and the Hadley Center for Climate Change of the British Meteorological Office (Met Office). Another is maintained by the National Climatic Data Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the U.S. The third is maintained by NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (NASA-GISS).
Source: spectator.org
FoMoCo today was named one of the Top 10 list of “Most Innovative” companies by Fast Company in the Mobile technology category, sharing the ranks with Google, Apple, Amazon and HTC.
“This honor represents Ford’s commitment to innovation and development of technology that enhances the driving experience and adds real value to the consumer,” said Mark Fields, Ford president, The Americas. “We’re very proud of this recognition from Fast Company, and it is truly an accomplishment to be named amongst some of the leading technology innovators and mobile application developers.”
“The automaker has taken a great leap forward,” says Fast Company.
Ford, which is the only automaker to ever be featured on the Top 10 Mobile list coming in at No.5, was recognized for the industry-leading mobile device connectivity technology, SYNC and the new MyFord Touch driver interface.
– By: Omar Rana
‘The Tester’ is now available for download from PlayStation Network. The exclusive original series features 11 avid gamers competing in a series of physical and mental elimination challenges to win an actual job as an official PlayStation game tester along with a $5000 signing bonus. Join host Meredith Molinari, celebrity panelist Hal Sparks, Sony Computer Entertainment Release Manager Brent Gocke, and this week’s guest panelist, Sony Computer Entertainment Managing Producer Petro Piaseckyj, to see who has game and who will go home. Read more about the panelists at the official Tester site. Unsure of how to watch The Tester? Check out these helpful instructions – the HD preview episode clocked in at about 356mb.
I’m watching the little eight minute preview episode now, and its mildly entertaining. The production value is high, and Hal Sparks is guiding the audience through the selection process. They are showing many clips from the thousands of people who submitted their applications. It is similar to the initial few episodes you see at the beginning of an American Idol season. Some cool people, but many are just absolutely ridiculous. I think the show will be successful for Sony – while many will think its lame its definitely a unique offering and has several compelling aspects – especially when game designers give their input. As far as I know there isn’t anything like this on XBOX Live.
Toyota is sporting one of the biggest black eyes this industry has ever seen thanks to three high-profile recalls involving over 8 million vehicles. Smelling blood in the water, some automakers have taken advantage of the situation by offering incentives aimed directly at owners of those recalled Toyotas. Shady? Perhaps, especially considering that every automaker has more than a few recalls under its belt, some of which were just as embarrassing as Toyota’s (We’re looking at you, Ford).
Now companies outside the auto industry are trying to profit from Toyota’s misfortune. The latest is Evenflo, a baby and infant car seat manufacturer that’s offering a $10 discount to any owner of a recalled Toyota model. In a press release, Evenflo CEO Perry Odak says, “The last thing Toyota owners affected by recent recalls need to worry about is the safety of their child.”
What Evenflo fails to mention in its press release (after the jump) is its own recall history. The latest one is for seats shipped without proper label stickers, which sounds innocent enough. The one before that was for seats with release handles that were not assembled completely, which could result in the seat separating from the base in an accident. Yikes. There’s also one for foam liner that a child could choke on and another one for a handle trigger that could unexpectedly release. There’s even a separate page on the Evenflo website just for recalls.
We asked Toyota how it felt about being a punching bag for other companies, to which Curt McAllister, a communications manager for Toyota in the U.S., replied, “We really don’t appreciate being a news peg in a press release. We are working hard to assure our customers that their safety is our top priority and, yet, a company that supposedly touts safety is using worry and fear to sell a few extra car seats.”
Point taken, and while Toyota shouldn’t be excused for the mess in which it now finds itself, other companies, automotive or otherwise, should be more mindful of throwing stones in glass houses.
Continue reading Can’t Recall? Car seat maker tries to profit from Toyota recalls, forgets own past
Can’t Recall? Car seat maker tries to profit from Toyota recalls, forgets own past originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
And here we go again. Apparently there was recently a “flash mob” snowball fight in Philadephia that got a bit out of control, resulting in a “rampage” through a Macy’s department store. Nobody was hurt, but 16 people were arrested. So how are Philly officials dealing with it? They’re threatening to sue Twitter and Facebook. Seriously. Two city council members say that those companies deserve some of the blame and a lawsuit is an option:
“While [the kids] certainly owe this city an apology and deserve to be punished under the fullest extent of the law, we believe that social media outlets should also bear some of the blame.” The letter, written by council members Frank DiCicco and James F. Kenney, explains that this is the second such time a band of mischievous teens has formed via social media and went on to destroy property. “We believe that the lack of monitoring of these sites allows for mass, organized riots to occur.”
Hopefully someone explains to these two council members that both sites are certainly protected from liability under Section 230 of the CDA. But, more importantly, beyond just invoking those safe harbors, can someone explain to them how silly it is to blame a communication tool for how it’s used? Do they want to sue the phone company when criminals use phones to plan their crimes? Do they threaten to sue the car companies when a car is used in a crime? Furthermore, if their complaint is that these sites failed to “monitor” what people were planning, then isn’t the city council actually even more to blame? The content of Twitter is available to the public, and these days much of Facebook is as well (and info on such a flashmob would almost certainly be public). Then shouldn’t Philadelphia officials be aware of what’s being planned in their own city? Based on the reasoning of DiCicco and Kenney, perhaps they should be suing themselves for failing to monitor what kids in their city were planning on some very public forums.
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We had posted previously about a comment by Maarten Sonneveld of Microsoft Netherlands that appeared to confirm backward compatibility in Windows Phone 7.
Microsoft has now responded to correct the apparent misconception, making it clear that this was indeed not the case.
What Sonneveld originally said was "there is no reason why programs written for Windows Mobile 6 cannot run on the new version of the OS.”
According the Register.com apparently what he meant to say was there was no reason developers could not rewrite their application in .Net and Silverlight, a rather different and ominous message to developers.
Consumerist.com notes Windows Mobile developers are not too happy with this “solution”, and as suggested in our earlier article may suspend development of their current applications until the situation is clearer.
Anthony Wieser of Wieser Software had been working on several applications for the existing Windows Mobile 6.5.
He complains:
"Everything looks different," "It’s difficult to see how existing applications will fit into the new framework."
Charlie Jorgen of Seattle’s Trinket Software believes it’s inevitable that he’ll have to redo all his existing applications for WP7. "I’m surprised there won’t be compatibility and concerned about the rework we’ll have to do," he said.
Will Microsoft’s clean break with the past do more harm than good? Let us know below.
Meredith Whitney spoke with Maria Bartiromo on the floor of the NYSE this evening.
She predicts big-cap banks will be down some 15%, because investors still aren’t pricing in the risks ahead.
Here are some things that will hit the sector:
The one bank she likes: Bank of America (BAC) because it has plenty of assets to sell.
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Always in Style is ridden by Joe Talamo and trained by Donald Warren. This 1 mile event is restricted to California breds. She is coming off a nice effort against optional claimers on the Santa Anita turf course at mile as she finished 2nd on January 13th. She posted a nice 87 Brisnet number making her first start off the layoff. This five year old will improve in her second effort for Donald Warren and will hit the winners circle.
Play #1 Always in Style to win race 7 at Santa Anita 7-2 on the Morning Line.
Post Time at 7:07PM Eastern Time televised by TVG
Courtesy of Tonys Picks
Article Tags: Cartoon, Web Article
AMSTERDAM (AP) – Top U.N. climate change official Yvo de Boer told The Associated Press on Thursday that he was resigning after nearly four years, a period when governments struggled without success to agree on a new global warming deal.
His departure takes effect July 1, five months before 193 nations are due to reconvene in Mexico for another attempt to reach a binding worldwide accord on controlling greenhouse gases. De Boer’s resignation adds to the uncertainty that a full treaty can be finalized there.
De Boer is known to be deeply disappointed with the outcome of the last summit in Copenhagen, which drew 120 world leaders but failed to reach more than a vague promise by several countries to limit carbon emissions – and even that deal fell short of consensus.
Click source to read more
Source: apnews.myway.com
Eye-popping health insurance premium increases of up to 39 percent are a worrisome sign of the times, the Obama administration said in a report Thursday as it tried to tap public frustration with high costs to revive the stalemated effort to overhaul health care.
Proposed premium increases by WellPoint’s Anthem Blue Cross for Californians purchasing their own coverage set off a wave of criticism and forced the company last week to announce a postponement. Now, the Health and Human Services Department says similar pressure on premiums is being felt in at least six other states.
“This shocking increase isn’t unique,” said the report, being presented by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at a news conference Thursday. “Across the country, families have seen their premiums skyrocket in recent years, and experts predict these increases will continue.”
With his drive for health care overhaul bogged down, President Obama has seized on the Anthem premium increases as Exhibit A to make his case for sweeping change before a bipartisan White House summit next week. California officials say 700,000 households face increases averaging 25 percent overall and as high as 39 percent for some.
In a briefing for reporters, WellPoint executives blamed their rate increases on rising medical costs and a pool of customers that is gradually becoming older and sicker as younger, healthier people drop their coverage. They insisted that their rate increases are little different from those charged by competitors.
“We understand this is a hardship,” said Brian Sassi, president and CEO of WellPoint’s consumer-business unit. “This is not something we voluntarily choose to do.”
The HHS report found the Anthem numbers are in line with increases sought by insurers in other states – at a time of robust profit growth for the companies and a lack of competition in most states.
Other states cited in the report were Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Oregon and Rhode Island.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Republican legislative leaders want some big changes to the way Illinois draws political districts.
They want an independent commission to draw new districts for state lawmakers and members of Congress instead of leaving the job to the Illinois Legislature.
The current system is set up so that if Democrats and Republicans deadlock over a new political map, the winner is chosen by random chance. Then that party gets to draw the districts however it wants.
House Minority Leader Tom Cross said Thursday no other state has that kind of winner-take-all approach.
The Republican proposal is an amendment to the state constitution. That means lawmakers would have to approve it before the change could be put on the ballot in November.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
A low-flying small plane crashed into an office building that houses the Internal Revenue Service in Texas on Thursday, and officials said they were investigating whether it was an intentional act by the pilot.
A federal law enforcement official identified the pilot as Joseph Stack and said investigators are looking at an anti-government message on the Web linked to him.
The Web site outlines problems with the IRS and says violence is the only answer.
The IRS said in a statement that the small plane struck its Austin offices, where 190 of the agencys employees work. Officials say they are still trying to account for all the workers.
The official said authorities are looking for a motive at Stacks company Web site. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an investigation still in progress.
The Web site featured a long note dated today denouncing the government and the IRS in particular. It cited the Austin mans problems with the agency.
Police in Austin said the crash was an isolated incident and there is no cause for concern about terrorism.
Assistant Austin Fire Chief Harry Evans said at least one person was missing and two people were taken to a hospital. Their conditions and identities were not immediately known.
The crash sent workers fleeing as ceilings crumbled, windows shattered and flames shot out of the building.
Thick black and gray smoke was billowing out of the second and third stories of the building as fire crews using ladder trucks and hoses battled the blaze. Dozens of windows were blown out of the hulking black building.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the pilot didn’t file a flight plan. He didn’t identify the pilot.
As a precaution, the Colorado-based North American Aerospace Defense Command launched two F-16 aircraft from Houstons Ellington Field, and is conducting an air patrol over the crash area.
In a neighborhood about six miles from the crash site, a home listed as belonging to Stack was on fire earlier Thursday. Authorities in Austin would not comment on the house fire Thursday afternoon.
Peggy Walker, an IRS revenue officer who works in the building said she was sitting at her desk when the plane crashed.
It felt like a bomb blew off. The ceiling caved in and windows blew in. We got up and ran, she said.
Matt Farney, 39, who was in the parking lot of a nearby Home Depot, said he saw a low-flying small plane near some apartments and the office building just before it crashed.
I figured he was going to buzz the apartments or he was showing off, Farney said. It was insane. … It didnt look like he was out of control or anything.
Sitting at her desk in another building about a half-mile from the crash, Michelle Santibanez said she felt vibrations after the crash. She and her co-workers ran to the windows, where they saw a scene that reminded them of the 2001 terrorist attacks, she said.
It was the same kind of scenario with window panels falling out and desks falling out and paperwork flying, said Santibanez, an accountant.
Fire crews were inside the building, which is located next door to a building that houses the FBI, and looking for survivors, Evans said.
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said an investigator from the boards Dallas office has been dispatched to the scene of the accident to start an investigation.
The IRS Web site said an office of its EP Team Audit Program is located in the building where the plane crashed. The group, known as EPTA, examines employee benefit plans with 2,500 or more participants, according to the Web site.
Associated Press writers April Castro and Jay Root in Austin and Devlin Barrett, Lolita C. Baldor and Joan Lowy in Washington contributed to this report.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
What really looks like a golf cart for Batman is really a compact urban combat armored electric-vehicle by Metaltech Motor Bodies called the Anti-Terrorist Assault Cart (ATAC). The ATAC was unveiled at an Indian arms fair, which was inspired by the Nov. 2008 terror attacks.
The ATAC’s main objective is to be able to maneuver down hallways and fit into elevators inside buildings that are under attack. Metaltech claims it can shield two fully-armed soldiers from small-arms fire and grenade blasts while offering four ports from where they can return fire.
The ATAC weighs less than 1,100 pounds and has a top speed of 15 mph, which should be plentiful for hotel corridors. On a full-charge, the ATAC can provide 6 hours of driving. Metaltech has set the price of the ATAC at 2 million rupees (around $43,000 USD).
– By: Kap Shah
Source: CARandDRIVER
